The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has said it hopes an evacuation flight for Britons on the coronavirus-hit cruise liner the Diamond Princess will be "later this week".

A spokesman said: "We are planning an evacuation flight from Tokyo to the UK as soon as possible for Britons who are on the Diamond Princess. We hope the flight will be later this week, subject to permissions from the Japanese authorities.

"At 0700 local time on Wednesday, the Diamond Princess cruise operator and Japanese authorities allowed passengers to disembark from the cruise ship. However there is a chance that people who disembark will not be able to join the evacuation flight.

"We have the utmost concern for the affected Britons and strongly encourage them to register for the evacuation flight."

Earlier, a Number 10 spokesman said those on board the ship docked near Yokohama, Japan, were being contacted about the possibility of a repatriation flight.